And the verdict? It's a "complete waste of money," Thomas Fuentes, former head of the FBI's Office of International Operations, tells Post writer Jeff Stein.

"They're not a member of the country team, they don't have the top secret clearances and equipment to receive or send classified information. The countries they're in, they're there on tourist passports. They live in hotels or apartments." Their out-of-channels status makes them virtually useless to other intelligence or police agencies, both U.S. and foreign, Fuentes argues, according to Stein.